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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Afar of Eritrea

The Afar of Eritrea, numbering approximately 353,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Custhitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Horn of Africa. They are an Indigenous people, in the Afar-Saho people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Afar.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Afar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
Country: Eritrea
People Cluster: Afar-Saho
Primary Language(s): Afar (aar)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 353,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011517
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Pray for the Afar of Eritrea

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Afar
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

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Media Resources in Afar:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Afar:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Afar bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Afar

The Afar are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Afar

The Afar are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Afar

The Afar are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Afar of Eritrea

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
readLuke 13:3

Pray that the lost will repent and believe the gospel, for without it, they will perish.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
readJames 4:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will turn from worldly passions and live in unity with one another.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
read2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will serve others in Jesus' name, and the lost will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

Afar (ROP3 - 102419) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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